His Assistant
by GhostInThePhoto
Summary: The night Klaus turns Tyler into a hybrid, he randomly decides to enlist Caroline to be his assistant. So here s the question. How long can she organize his schemes while also plotting to kill him? Will she cave?
1. I ll share

As the car stopped in front of the hospital, she clutched her purse tightly, pressing all of her inpending panic into the strap hanging from her shoulder. Stefan turned off the ignition.

"Sure you don´t want to back out?" Damon asked.

"I don´t really have a choice, do I?"

"Guess not."

On that note, they left the car, and walked up to a black SUV. As they approached the two blond Originals standing in front of it, Caroline felt like vomiting.

"Ah, there´s my girl." a British accent laughed.

"What do you want?" Caroline asked. Less than an hour ago, she had agreed to meet the hybrid´s demands, now she needed to find out what exactly those were.

"You´re no fun." he teased, tugging a stray behind her ear. "It´s fairly simple. I require a new assistant."

"Assistant?"

"As in secretary, organizer, right hand..."

"Private killing machine." Damon interrupted, earning him a pointed glare from Klaus, and a giggle from Rebekah.

"What does that have to do with me?" Caroline asked worriedly.

"Well, since you organized such a nice Senior Prank Night, I thought you might be worth a shot."

"No offense, but didn´t you already enlist Stefan for that ?"

"Partially, but mostly I require his talents for making messes, I am asking you to clean them up afterwards."

"You´re joking." Caroline took a step back.

"Not really. But if you want to renege on our agreement, I´d be perfectly happy to tear your little boyfriend´s heart out instead."

"C´mon. You can´t seriously want Blondie here to be your sidekick."

"I prefer the term assistant." Klaus returned, his eyes never leaving Caroline´s.

Caroline exhaled. She remembered the properties of her deal with Klaus and she knew how he´d retaliate, if she chose not to agree, only she did not feel ready to give in just yet, either.

"Seriously? You want someone who voluntarily joined Operation Kill Klaus to organize your calendar an d take your calls? You´re sick."

Klaus took a step towards her, taking in her scent. Memorizing it. "Operation Kill Klaus, hm?" he smirked. Seemingly pondering over her words, he looked over towards the Salvatores. "So is me threatening your loyalty towards your little girls scouts club here your only objection to my request, love?"

Caroline lacked the power to respond in the face of his intent gaze. "I make you a deal. I´ll share."

"What.. I don´t... understand." Caroline uttered.

"You won´t be required to tell me whatever crazy plan Damon and your little friends come up with, you may even help them, however, in return you won´t tell them anything about my plans either, and you will fulfill any task I might give you."

"Wow, the dude really is out of his mind." Damon commented, rolling his eyes. Caroline could never stick to her end of the bargain towards him, if she´d also get involved with them. It would tear her apart.

"Well, I admit, it sounds a tad bit decadent, but I think we can make this work out just fine if ..."

" if what...?" Caroline asked confusedly.

"You let me compel you to make it work." he smiled, sensing her dread.

"No, I..."

"Well, you can either let me compel you and keep your freedom to help your friends whenever it does not interfere with your duty to me OR you avoid the compulsion but instead choose between losing your entire circle of friends or Tyler´s life. Your choice, sweetheart." he repeated slickly. "Don´t worry, I´ll only compel you to stick to the terms of our agreement, Damon here even gets the permission to attack me, should I stray during the compulsion."

Caroline looked from Klaus to Damon, unsure of what to do. She hated compulsion, but the other options seemed even worse. She could not stand by and not help her friends, neither could she let Tyler die.

"Hurry up, I am getting bored." Rebekah said from the hood of Klaus´ SUV.

"Fine."

"Excellent." In a flash, Klaus had his arms around Caroline´s waist, locking their gazes. "You´ll do whatever I tell you to do, and you won´t share information about me with anyone. However, you may refuse me any information about your friends, I won´t let you harm them direct AND you may even plot to kill me without sharing the information with me. But just to be clear, love. While your duty to me is not a choice, helping your friends is your choice and yours alone. You are free to decide if you see action on your part fit. Just remember, I come first, they come second."

Caroline nodded with dazed eyes.

"You got that Damon, if you want her to help you, she is free to do so." Klaus smirked. "Now love, go inside and check up on your friend Elena. Make sure, nothing goes wrong with my donation." And so she did, with an apologetic look towards Damon. Klaus watched her until she disappeared in the building.

Caroline found Elena in a room on the first floor as she was about to wake up.

"Where am I?"

A nurse was there to answer that. "In the hospital sweetie. You suffered through a terrible ordeal." Elena slowly tried to get up. "Caroline."

"Hey, It´s going to be fine. I am here now."

" I have to go" Elena uttered, but the nurse stopped her. "Ah. Not an option. You´ve lost a lot of blood."

Dazedly, Elena looked down at an almost full blood bag. "Wait. You´re taking my blood?" she asked tiredly.

"Of course." The nurse answered with a smile. "It´s very important for your friend Klaus."

Caroline´s eyes shot wide, as she finally understood what Klaus had instructed her to supervise. "I am so sorry Elena." she cried, tears in her eyes.

"Care, what..." she was about to finish her question but then noticed the nurse injection her something.

"Ah, don´t fight it sweetie." And then, Caroline witnessed Elena´s eyes going blank.

_Earlier that evening._

_They were in the chemistry lab. Tyler was fearing for his life, and all Caroline could do after waking up to have some evil blood slut explain to her that he was "deadish", was to soothingly place her hand upon his neck. She was afraid for his life as well. _

_"Well, the verdict is in." a velvety British accent said. Caroline looked up to see Klaus walk into the room. It was the first time she saw him. He was attractive and intimidating, just like Damon only worse on both accounts. And he reeked of arrogance, and she suppressed the urge to claw his eyes out._

_"The original witch says the Doppelganger should be dead." Caroline gulped at that. Praying that life would not make her choose between her best friend and her boyfriend._

_Rebekah came up from behind them. "Does that mean we can kill her." _

_"No, I am fairly certain it means the opposite."_

_Caroline was about to ask. "What..." but Rebekah grabbed her arms and pulled her away from Tyler._

_"Call it a hunch." Klaus said. For a second she thought, she saw him give her a smirk._

_He crouched down towards Tyler. "Elena´s blood. Drink it." His voice was low and threatening. Tyler´s forehead was all sweaty and he was genuinely lost what to do now. _

_It was bad. Really bad. "No. No, no, no, no, no. Tyler, don´t." she tried to warn him, knowing that the situation was hopeless._

_"If he doesn´t feed, he´ll die anyway, love." Klaus explained to her calmly, as Tyler suppressed a wave of pain. _

_"Don´t call me love, you monster." she hissed. He smirked at that. This time she was sure he did._

_He looked back at Tyler. "Consider this an experiment." Quietly, he added. "It´s okay."_

_With what probably was his last ounce of strength, Tyler took the vial. "There you go." Klaus uttered. Then Tyler drank it. "Good boy." The original smiled._

_Caroline tried once more to fight Rebekah, only it was in vain, as Tyler started to clash to the ground, bringing down various chemistry equipment with him. Caroline cried in frustration as she could not help him. Hating Klaus even more for that. Tyler´s screams filled the room, intriguing Klaus, terrifying her. When Klaus kneeled down to see the result of his work, he found Tyler Lockwood with werewolf eyes and vampire fangs. His first successful hybrid. _

_"Well, that´s a good sign." Klaus nodded in approval. _

_It was this moment of relieved surprise, that Caroline used to get out of Rebekah´s grip. Without thinking she launched herself at Klaus, slapping him in the face while pushing him to the ground. Not even caring if she only managed that because of the unexpected nature of her action. As she straddled him onto the floor, she attempted to choke him, putting all her anger into the task. Klaus chuckled lightly, before pushing her off him and into the hallway, pushing her against a locker before she had time to get back to her feet. _

_"Now love, that is not very nice, considering I just performed a miracle on your boyfriend." he laughe amusedly. The success of his experiment making him slightly light-headed._

_"Don´t call me love. And you nearly killing Tyler for your selfish gain is not what I would call a miracle." she hissed, trying to kick him. _

_Suddenly, his smile disappeared. And he looked her up and down in all earnest. "You´re the baby vampire, aren´t you? The one I nearly sacrificed. Would have been quite the waste." he said. _

_"You know, there is something I never understood about you, love. What´s your role in this game? You know, I initially thought your only purpose was to be sacrificed for my cause, but that fell through, so now I am wondering, what´s your purpose. You obviously don´t make the plans, you leave that to the Salvatores. You´re no Doppelganger. You´re no witch. But still, Damon bothered to save you and Tyler. Now, Tyler has found his purpose tonight, that still leaves me to wonder: What is it you do that makes you worthy of staying in the game, love?" With each sentence he had inched closer to her, until their bodies were almost touching, but he never let go off her throat. Suddenly his pupils dilated, illiciting the answer to a question she probably would not even be able to answer otherwise. "I do whatever is necessary." she responded blankly. _

_Klaus looked her up and down, taking in her beautiful features, her brave eyes, her defiant lips. Her answer intrigued him. He tried recalling everything he had ever heard about that girl, which until now had not been much. She had helped his new hybrid during his first transformation, which was a rather crazy gesture on her part, considering the risks, but highlighted her selfless way of caring for people. He knew that tonight´s event at her school had been mostly her doing as she had coordinated every single prank and staged them all around the school, just like she had organized that dance he had entered in Alaric´s body. She liked controlling things, which is why she organized them. And he vaguely remembered that she was trying to maintain her humanity. She was a very complex baby vampire, indeed. _

_"So, how do I punish you for ruining my moment just now." he cooed, wiping a tear from her cheek. "Maybe I should just go back in there and kill poor Tyler, since you are so displeased with his new self."_

_"No" she had cried. "Please." she struggled against his hold, but did not manage to loosen it. _

_"Okay, how about your life for his? If you want me to let him live, meet me at your local hospital in an hour. Stefan will drive you. If you don´t show up, I´ll kill Tyler. After all... there are plenty more werewolves out there that I can turn." _

_After that, she had only felt a gush of wind as him and sister sped away, leaving her on the ground with Tyler in the other room._

PRESENT

As she watched her best friend sleep, her phone buzzed. "Take the collected blood and meet be at the back. Leave Elena behind. Klaus."

He pulled up the second stepped outside. Wordlessly she put Elena´s blood in the trunk. Then she slid into the passenger seat next to Klaus.

"Where are Stefan and your sister?"

"Change of plans, love. Stefan will stay behind and keep an eye on Elena, so will Rebekah. You and me, on the other hand, we´ve got things to do."

"What do you mean, they´ll stay behind. Does that mean we´re..."

"... leaving Mystic Falls. Exactly." he said, not taking his eyes off the road.

"But... my mom, Tyler, my friends. They´re all here. And I got school and things to do here. You can´t just kidnap me." she yelled, panic entering her voice.

"I am not kidnapping you. I am telling my new assistant to accompany me on a very important mission. Which by the way is YOU. And until I release you from the job, you´re stuck with me. Which until I decide otherwise, means for the rest of my eternal life. But don´t worry love, we´ll come back. And since I am a really laid-back boss, I promise you, you´ll even get to go back to school, once our task is completed."

"What do you need me to do?" Caroline asked.

"Wait and see" he said, smiling at her evilly. He really had thought up an interesting punishment for her earlier transgression. Even he himself did not know what he´d use her for.

"But I suggest you call your mom and Tyler, and tell them you´ll be out of town for a couple of days."

Caroline looked at Klaus, and for a second she was more terrified of him than anything else. They drove on silently, as she pondered over the long-term consequences of her decision. The only thing that interrupted the silence was a quiet "I hate you." that left her lips. He chuckled, thinking that she was just a little more interesting than he had presumed she´d be. As road signs kept on passing them, it dawned on her that she was leaving the district for the first time in her life, and she started to silently cry.


	2. You ll figure it out

They´d been driving until they reached an airport. Caroline numbly followed Klaus inside wondering where they were going. They stood in front of the ticket counter where Klaus turned to finally speak to her again.

"Seattle" was all he said, as he pointedly tilted his head towards the counter. It took her a second to comprehend, but once she understood, she tiredly walked to compel them their tickets. Her vampire hearing picked up a whispered. "First class, love" on the way.

Less than an hour later, they were seated as the sole first class passengers on a plane to Seattle airport. Klaus set next to her, relaxed but somehow he did not seem content.

"So, what´s in Seattle?" Caroline asked.

"Werewolves. Lots of them." he responded with a smirk. Caroline frowned, the ordeal she had watched Tyler go through jus t the other night still made her stomach ache. Now she had the feeling that there would be more of that in her future.

Tiredly, she decided to check her phone before she´d be forced to put it off for the flight. She found a message from Tyler.

- WHERE ARE YOU? -

She gulped.

"How´s Tyler?" he asked absent-mindedly as he watched the stewardesses.

Caroline scoffed at him in annoyance. Quickly she texted Tyler. "On my way to Seattle." Then she turned off her phone.

"Care to join me for a drink, love?" Klaus suddenly asked. She followed his gaze towards the flight attendants.

"Nope, thanks."

"Suit yourself." With that, he was gone. He did not come back until the flight was already up in the air, in his hands he held two flutes of champagne.

"Here love, that should help you relax."

Caroline took her glass hesitantly. Somehow she was not sure if relaxing around her new boss was a good idea, but then again, she needed to drink SOMETHING. Or at least, she needed to not start a war over one glass of champagne. Klaus was busy looking around the cabin innocently, while sipping from his glass. Finally, she gulped down the entire glass, placing it on the table in front of her. The second the glass touched the table, Klaus´ eyes were fixed on her again. She felt uncomfortable under his scrutiny.

"What ?" she asked.

"Nothing" he hummed innocently. As if on cue, her vision suddenly got blurry, just for a second. The next thing she knew was Klaus pulling her into his arms, while lifting her legs onto her former seat. She tried to struggle against lying in his arms, but suddenly she felt groggy again.

"Relax, sweetheart. Our flight attendant was kind enough to give you a tiny overdose of sleeping pills. When you´ll wake up again, you´ll be already in Seattle, safe and sound." she felt his hands caressing her cheeks and her hair, as her eyes slowly fell shut. The last thing she felt was his hand on hers.

She woke up in a hotel room. Her head buzzed from having died of a narcotic overdose and having to revive herself. As comforting as the knowledge of not being able to literally die by normal mortal means is, death is still death. It sucks. Great, within less than 48 hours she´d had her neck snapped and got poisoned. Lovely. As she slowly stumbled out of bed, she noticed her cell phone lying next to another black phone. There was a note, too. _Have a good first day at work. Klaus._ Looking further, she also found a small, black notebook in a black leather carrier bag next to the night stand. Was this for her?

"Morning, love." she suddenly heard a familiar British accent say behind her. She turned around in exasperation.

"You killed me."

"You were going to ask questions, and I felt more like having a quiet evening. Plus, I thought you could use the rest. But at least I did not snap your neck or something gruesome like that, give me points for that." he smirked.

"Are those for me?" she asked pointing confusedly at the notebook and the phone.

"Yes. The phone is the most important thing for now, basically I gave its number to all of my current informants, and I am pretty sure you´ll already find a few texts and missed calls when you turn it on. Your main task is to filter. At the moment, I mostly care about making hybrids, so anything pertaining to finding werewolves is your top priority, however you´ll probably receive other types of information as well. Your job is to weed out anything that is not a priority and give me a summary by the end of the day, while filling me in immediately on anything that is important. Oh, and I recommend you check the information for reliability, after all you probably won´t be keen on organizing road trips to places that prove futile to my cause, love."

Caroline was overwhelmed. Seriously? Klaus had just given her an all-access phone to all of his informants. She shuddered at the kind of power that was connected to it.

"Wait... didn´t you say there are wolves here? Why do you need to send out informants for other places then?"

"First, one of my informants only told me there is definitely a huge pack here, but I still need to find at least one of them. Secondly, I am not content with just turning one pack. Thirdly, just do as you´re told. I´ll explain later, maybe. Oh, and yes, every information perceived on this phone counts as information on me, so love, you´ll find that the compulsion you´re under will prohibit you from divulging any of that to your friends."

Caroline sat down onto the bed, and turned on the phone. True to Klaus´ words, there already were five messages and two missed calls.

"Speaking of compulsion, I require you to put yourself on vervain. Preferably, I want you to put up a tolerance for it."

She looked up at him. "Is that an order?"

His hands found their way through her curls. "The part about drinking it, yes. I really don´t want my siblings being able to compel my private assistant. It would be most uncanny. The part about the tolerance, well, consider it a friendly suggestion. It makes you less vulnerable and it might even make you stronger, little baby vampire."

"How am I supposed to wield through all of these texts and calls and find out which information is worth your time." she asked.

"You´ll figure it out. Don´t worry, I won´t expect you to not screw up for the first six months, love."

"I don´t even know who these people are, how am I supposed to trust their word or their judgment"

"Like I said, you´ll figure it out, but since I am not a complete bastard of a boss, I took the liberty of putting some basic information, like where I stationed them, what specie, job, true age into the phone along with their numbers."

With that he went to the door. Before he left, he turned to face her once more. "Oh, and love. You´re not my prisoner. You´re free to venture about town as long as you do your job properly. Plus, I am sure you have a few things to do, like getting a decent cup of coffee, you look slightly overwhelmed. Or like tracking down a hospital, so you can get some blood bags. Maybe do some sight-seeing. Enjoy your day, I´ll see you tonight for your report."

Caroline fell back onto her bed in exhaustion. She had a lot to process. Panic started to flood her. She had no idea what she was doing and even less idea of how she was going to survive this. There was a silent scream caught inside her throat. She was close to hyperventilating. The last time she had been this freaked out when faced with a task was when she had first auditioned for the cheerleading squad. She remembered, how badly she wanted to get in, how badly she wanted to have something else she would impress any other mother but her own with. How badly she wanted to have something that she would be better at doing than her friends. In all honesty, she had been close to a nervous breakdown in a bathroom stall at school a mere day before the tryouts. But then she had clung to her "one-step-at-a-time"- philosophy, and clung to her choreography like it was a life line. _One step at a time._

She slowly sat up and grabbed her new phone. She found Klaus in it, on speed dial, and she was slightly surprised that he had not put his name under master or Original Hybrid, but simply as Klaus. She found his name was the only one that had no further information saved in the entire address book. She read through all the names and information within two hours, she could not remember all of it, but by associating dumb questions to the profiles or sarcastic comments, she had at least the basics down. With a sigh she got up. Leaving the room, she took note of her room number. Before she left the lobby for the nearest coffee shop, she briefly went to the front desk, asking them about wireless internet availability in her room and organizing herself a map of the city along with a card of the hotel, in case she got lost and needed the address. There was a starbucks right around the corner.

However, instead of entering, she went into the book store next to it. Buying herself a leathered journal as well as a pen. Then she went for her coffee. She ordered something that was basically a quadrupled espresso in a frappuccino. Anyway, it contained enough sugar and caffeine that she had to compel the waitress to mix it for her.

She sat down in a quieter corner and opened the first texts. During her profile research time, a lot more had come and she even had ignored one call. Now she was working through it all.

A 200 year old vampire by the name of Carlos had allegedly spotted a pack around Tijuana. _Great, more drug overdoses coming my way._ She texted him back immediately. _Define "spotted." Give me details._ She briefly wondered under which name all of these contacts had saved her number. Klaus assistant? Klaus´ slave? Did they know her real name or were they thinking that they were still texting Klaus?

A witch named Silvie told him she had obtained a new grimoire. Caroline wondered what he could want with a grimoire in Pittsburgh, but figured it ´d be something for her report.

She found calling them back was tougher. The first call she made was to Corinna. A 643 year old vampire from Las Vegas.

"Hey. Is this Corinna." Caroline asked hesitantly.

"Yes. You´re the girl Klaus told us to contact?"

"Yup. What´s up?"

"There´s a pack here. "

"In Vegas?"

"Yes." _Great, what will I get for waking up in Vega? Seattle got me a drug overdose, maybe I´ll play a round of Russian Roulette there._

"Do you know anything about that pack or did you just hear about them?"

Then Corinna told her everything she knew. Gathering places. the name of a few members. Turns out she knew more than Carolos from Tijuana, but not enough to make Caroline want to call Klaus ASAP. After that call, Caroline compelled herself a taxi to the nearest hospital, easily stealing a cooler worth of blood, though in order to not cause any shortages, she took care to mix the blood types. On her way back, she called a Seattle-based witch, asking her about the local pack. Since said witch was the only local contact listed in the phone. However, oddly enough, the witch claimed to have no knowledge of any pack. Making lemonade out of lemons, Caroline obtained a source for vervain from her, so she´d take care of her most recent order, before going back to the hotel. It was 4 in the afternoon by the time she returned.

In the hotel, she opened her new notebook and immediately went online. For a second she hesitated, not sure what she was looking for, but mere minutes later she knew. She searched for the dates of the last 24 full moons, scribbling them down on paper, then searched for local news papers around Tijuana (noting that Carlos still owed her a text, so he just send him a second text, hating him already for making this even harder on her) and Las Vegas. She found two strange reports of animal attacks centering around the areas of the city Corinna had mentioned. However, she found none so far in Tijuana, though it could just mean that this pack is more careful.

She quickly texted Klaus.

- Your only local source knows nothing about werewolves, however it looks like you´ll need to go to Las Vegas pretty soon. - Secretly, she hoped he´d station her behind in Seattle.

Then she spent two more hours online, researching all the other clues she´s received, while typing off her report to Klaus.

After that, she was done. The phone, after buzzing all day, went quiet. Finally, she was out of excuses to not call Tyler or any other of her friends. Now she was forced to deal with the cold reality of homesickness, guilt and fear.

Timidly, she pressed the dial button to call Tyler.

_After Tyler had recovered from turning into a hybrid, they had stood quietly for a few minutes. Before he had gently intertwined their fingers. Pressing his forehead against hers. "Are you okay?" she asked._

_"Yes. Are you?" he had asked back, referring to her encounter with Klaus. _

_And just like that she had lied. He had just barely survived this, the last thing she needed was him doing something reckless or getting upset. She´d tell him later. Then she had not known that she would be leaving town the same night. "Yes" she said, with her best smile._

_So he let her into the hallway. Their hands were still joined together._

_"You´re sure you´re okay?" she had asked, knowing she´d feel like asking the same question over and over again for quite some time in the future. _

_He had smiled, when he answered her. "Great Caroline. I´m like phenomenal. It´s a rush. I wish I could explain it." And honestly, she had wished he could, too. How could she be so glad that he was okay and be so worried about it at the same time?_

_He contently had added: "Everything is just better" and just like that she had felt even guilty for not telling him about her deal with Klaus just yet. After all, it was her own fault, had she not snapped and pissed of the Original jerk, her life would still be okay. _

_She gave him a small smile, trying to just enjoy the fact that he was okay. He smiled back, and before she could do anything about it, he had her scooped up in his arms, whirling her around in the air. By the time, he let her back onto her feet, she was smiling and giggling. He really seemed okay. _

_And then they had kissed, and just like that she had felt okay again. _

_"This is going to be an amazing year." He had promised her. Then reality set back in and as she hugged him closely, she felt like she was ruining their amazing year together already. She had made a deal with whatever consequences with the devil. _

Tyler picked up after the first ring.

"Care, where the hell are you?"

"In Seattle."

"Come back."

"I will, but not right now. I can´t."

"Damon told him about what happened between you and Klaus, why didn´t you tell me?"

"Because you nearly died, and at the time I did not think I would not get the chance to tell you in person later. I am sorry. I know I messed up, but you were dying and I was so angry and before I knew it was my life or yours... and I am so so sorry."

"Care, come back, we´ll work this out."

"Tyler, he compelled me."

"When will you be back?"

"Soon, I hope." She honestly didn´t know. Klaus had briefly alluded to them returning eventually, but he never specified when exactly.

" I miss you."

" I miss you, too."

Again, as if on cue, Klaus chose that moment to enter the room. "I gotta go Tyler, take care, okay?"

"How´s my hybrid?"

"Pissed at his girlfriend." Caroline mumbled.

"That´s rather foolish, how could a guy be pissed at a girlfriend that is going out of her way to ensure his safety. But sounds like he´s healthy. So what was that about a trip to Vegas?"

"Your "friend" Corinna called about a pack there. I called her back and asked for specifics, and I found two suspicious newspaper articles about mysterious animal attacks around two full moons in the same area, so it sounds believable."

"Good. Organize our trip there for the day after tomorrow, and since I assume it´s your first time there, pick an interesting hotel." So he was not going to leave her behind, she thought with a sigh.

"Oh, and tell my sister I expect her to move in with the Salvatore brothers within the next week."

"What?" Caroline nearly fell of her bed.

"Just do it." he said, as he strolled into her bathroom, taking a bath robe and a towel with him.

"What are you doing?" she asked, incredulously.

"Taking a shower." he informed her with a smirk.

"Can´t you do that in your room?"

"Don´t you mean our room, love?" he teased. And with that he went to take a shower.

Caroline looked around in exasperation. So this was not her room, it was theirs? The room had a huge bath room and that was it, no second bed, nothing second as a matter of fact. _Wait a second, that means, last night, he... OH MY GOD!_ _Seriously?!_ She went with her fingers through her hair and once again let herself fall onto her bed, and that would have been enough until she remembered it was going to be THEIR bed for at least two more nights. Finally she settled down onto the window sill, and tried to calm down. When her breathing was even again, she did as she had been told and texted Rebekah the info.

Then she decided to text Elena. However, she found that she could not type further than "Hi Elena, just so you know... " _Damn compulsion_, she thought. There was only one way she´d be able to give her friend a much needed headsup.

Scoffing, she tiptoed towards the bathroom door and knocked. "Klaus?" she called.

"Yes love, care to join me?" she could already visualize his smirk.

"No, thank though. May I PLEASE give Elena a headsup on Rebekah moving in with the Salvatores? Please, I know you probably don´t care, because you don´t, but she really does not need any more bad surprises right now."

She heard the shower stop. There was a rustling sound, probably him grabbing a towel.

"Of course love, you may." his tone showed how much he relished in the power to decide whom she told what. "You may even add that I want Rebekah to enroll in your school, feel free to relay both pieces of information. "

Caroline felt relieve ease through her shoulders.

"Under one condition, though." she heard him say from the other room. Just like that the ease was gone again.

She took a step away, when she heard him approach the door. And there he stood in front of her, wearing nothing but a towel, making her wonder where that bath robe had disappeared to.

She gulped at the proximity.

"What condition, Klaus?"

"Join me for dinner." he grinned.


	3. I am not optional

She texted Elena during the limousine ride towards the restaurant. Caroline could only wonder how Elena would take the news. Rebekah living with Damon and Stefan AND going to their school. Sadly, she realized that she´d be missing her first day of Senior year, a day she used to picture with Bonnie and Elena, in a zillion different ways. Depending on who was single and who wasn´t, they´d picture meeting cute new guys or being kissed by their respective boyfriends. Caroline already had a mental list of all the committees she had wanted to join. Now she wasn´t even sure when she´d be back in school. In a fit of defiance, she wrote an email to her teachers, explaining about supposedly being sick while also texting Damon to make sure she´d be excused for her absences, hoping she´d get back soon.

As she threw a side glimpse at Klaus, a lump formed inside her throat. Suddenly her sadness was taken over by a sense of dread. The about-to-become-familiar feeling she always got around Klaus. Nervously she fumbled with the hems of her dress, which Klaus had suggested she compel off the hotel´s boutique. Letting on that wherever he´d be taking her, it would be fancy.

The limousine ride was silent. Klaus threw Caroline occasional glances, enjoying her squirming beneath his scrutiny. He remembered their confrontation in Mystic Falls. He had decided to keep her around instead of killing her when she told him straight to the face that she simply does whatever is necessary. A small fragile survivor. An intriguing, pretty, new pet was all he saw. It was when she told him that she hated him later, that he thought that she is far more interesting than that. She´s honest, carrying a heart on her sleeve that is too human to belong to a vampire. Yet it did.

It was as they boarded their plane that he decided that the idea of him even thinking about her heart was wrong, after all she was supposed to be a pet to be kept as a punishment for her insolence until he tired of her. Him fawning over like he had started during the car ride, even though she probably was too numb to notice, was unacceptable. So he drugged her, but the second she started to drift to sleep, he felt this need to pull her closer, to feel her in his arms. At least for the plane ride.

He could have gotten her a room to herself, it was at the lobby when he decided it would be fun to see her squirm even more when she´d have to share a room as well as a bed with him, though there was this faint whisper inside of his head promising him that he´d enjoy this for other reasons as well.

He had expected her to come crying or to call him asking him for help when she texted him, as he was slightly surprised that she could already tell him their next destination. He had made her his assistant as a joke on her, but suddenly it dawned on him that she might seriously be up for the challenge. He would have to think of a more challenging task soon, if he wanted for this to remain a punishment.

It was when she asked him for permission to tell Elena about Rebekah that the opportunist inside made him exploit this. Take her out for dinner, get under her skin. Can the girl handle that?

Looking at her now in the simple, strapless dress, he couldn´t help but marvel at her. She certainly was a thing to behold.

They arrived at their destination, forcing Klaus to end his musings for the time being. Caroline´s jaw literally dropped to the ground when she realized where they´d be dining. The Space Needle.

From behind he whispered into her ear "I thought you might like to do at least a little sightseeing, love." He was secretly pleased that her sad face from before had briefly disappeared, but frowned as the mere sound of his voice seemed to bring back her blank expression.

The elevator ride was silent. When they arrived at the restaurant, Caroline was shocked to find that Klaus had organized them a very private evening. They were the only guests. As amazing as this was, she could not help but feel bad for all the poor people that had been cancelled on just because Klaus had compelled the restaurant staff to do so. She frowned.

Their table was near a window, giving them a splendid view onto the city, next to it, was seemingly the entire menu arranged as a buffet.

"Seriously?" Caroline asked, taking in all the extravagance.

"Anything wrong?" Klaus asked, feigning innocence, though he had a good idea about her thoughts right now.

"No, nothing. It´s nice." Caroline said flatly.

They worked their way through the starters, and appetizers silently. Klaus was amused by how much the young vampire was able to devour, she was eating like she was hungering for life not food. It was rather endearing. As he noticed the word "endearing" resounding in his head, he mentally cursed himself.

"So, why did you bring me here?" Caroline suddenly asked, while eating her salmon.

"Straight to the point, I see." he smirked. "Well, I haven´t been in quite a while and I thought since you and I are going to be spending a lot of time together, I might try to learn what makes you tick. How´s the salmon?"

"Why this? You could have just ripped out my heart, you could have put me in a dungeon and tortured me, or overreacted in a zillion other ways. You don´t normally harm people by trusting them withan all access phone to your allies and taking them sight-seeing."

"Overreacting? You do remember attacking me first, right?"

"Yes, if memory serves me right, after you had my neck snapped and nearly killed my boyfriend before turning him into a hybrid against his will, I remember." she glared at him. He noticed her blue eyes sparkled even more when she was angry. They were mesmerizing.

" Well, Caroline, firstly, I am not trusting you with a phone, I compelled you to not abuse its content to my disadvantage."

She pondered over that for a second. "Yes, I suppose your right, I supposed you don´t really do that. Trusting I mean. "

"What are you implying, love?" he asked in a strained voice, not liking her observation at all.

"I am not implying anything, I am just saying that you don´t strike me as the trusting type. More like the controlling type."

"You mean, like you?" he asked, his gaze burning into hers.

"No, I trust my friends, I don´t need to control them because I know them. I just let my OCD take over the aspects of life I can´t control. You, however, you only exert control. You bark orders, you negotiated and blackmail and take. You don´t trust. And that is true, so why are you trying to argue about that with me, anyway?"

Her bluntness took him by surprise. He couldn´t remember the last time anyone but his brother Elijah had talked to him this openly about him. It was refreshing just as much as it was strange. He had a thousand years on her, a mere bite with his hybrid teeth and she´d be dust. She was nothing, beautiful nothing. She should look down at her food shyly and try to avoid his wrath rather than provoking him.

"Let´s not argue then, and about your previous question. Secondly, I am just going to watch you until you break. Eventually you´ll have to falter and abandon your friends. You can´t serve two masters forever, and I am not optional. They are. I am just waiting for you to buckle under the pressure, sweetheart."

"They are my friends. You are the Original hybrid jerk I struck a messed up deal with. I don´t think of either of you as my masters."

"Give it time, love." he responded with a smirk.

Suddenly Caroline felt like she was suffocating. This ominous last comment was wrapping around her thoughts like a hand around her throat. Without a further word, she slowly got up and walked out to see the view, enjoying the air.

He granted her five minutes to herself before coming up behind her. As they were gazing at the skyline, he stole a few glances at her face, admiring her features, smirking at her insolence, thinking of new ways to taunt her. It was her comment on him not trusting in general that stuck with him. And it was the way she held herself around him. Unwaveringly. It took his mind a few moments to assemble to thought, but final it was there. _She has an instinct for me._ "Intriguing" he said to himself.

"What?" she looked up at him in confusing, fearing that his words were somehow in relation to her. He had already drugged her, maybe he´d throw her down the space needle next? "Nothing" he said with a smile.

Uneasily she went back to enjoy the skyline. They stayed like that for quite a while before he simply dragged her back inside to an already prepared desert buffet. Her stomach clenched at the smirk in his face, promising her yet another ace up his sleeve.

However, she would not find out until there were back at the hotel. Once they returned, she hesitantly took a shower, all too aware of how a mere bath room door was no real protection from him. Dressed in PJs she had compelled off the hotel´s boutique as well she went back to the room, to find Klaus already lying in bed, shirtless and smirking. Deciding to ignore him, she peeked up her computer and sat down onto the window sill, swiftly booking everything they´ll need for their impeding trip to Las Vegas. A simple motel wouldn´t do as his order to book an "interesting hotel" was clear inside her compelled mind. She was briefly about to book them into the Excalibur, having read about them having a restaurant known for intentionally rude service while also picturing him looking ridiculous in a hotel that so clearly mocked the time he was born in, but finally settled onto the Mandalay Beach. Figuring he´d be relatively harmless in a hotel that had a huge beach and an aquarium. However, she had been tempted by the Excalibur. Very tempted.

Once she was done, she gently placed her notebook onto the floor.

"Are you coming to bed, love?" Klaus asked, having stared at her predatorily the entire time.

"Nope, I am quite comfortable where I am right now." she hissed, and with that she went into a sleeping position, her tiny frame matching the window sill perfectly. And since it was cushioned, she felt quite comfortable, at least given the alternative.

"Suit yourself, love." he pouted, turning off the lights.

He spoke to her once more in the dark. "By the way, except for your regular cell phone duty you get the entire day off tomorrow, I just need you to meet me at the car at six."

"How you plan on finding your werewolves?"

"Well, my informant here has told me everything I need today, I am all set."

"But your witch said she didn´t know anything."

"Another contact. I didn´t bother putting him into your pesky little phone because I intended to kill him once I got the information I needed. And that I did."

After a brief silence, he only got one reply. "Figures." from her tired voice.

"Oh, and one more thing, love. You might want to start browsing real estate sites." Suddenly he could feel her eyes on him through the darkness, and he enjoyed the terror he probably caused her, letting her think for a second that he´d move far far away from her home, taking her with him.

"I am looking for a house in Mystic Falls."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"I am ... sorry, but you don´t strike me as the white picket fence type of guy."

"Where do you picture me living?"

"Well, either a tomb, preferably one you can´t get out of or a castle. We don´t have any castles around Mystic Falls, but I could recommend a nice, perfectly spelled tomb, if you like."

"Well, well, Caroline. How about you find me something that is almost as good as a castle, then?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes and you should consider going to sleep love. You have a long day ahead of you." she could almost see his smirk glow in the dark.

It took her a long time, to drift to sleep. Thoughts of him moving to Mystic Falls kept her awake. Even though that meant that she´d be back home soon, it also meant that he´d be becoming a permanent fixture in all of their lives. And that thought just plain scared her. Her instincts told her that this time there was probably no point in asking him to let her give her friends a heads-up. He wouldn´t let her this time. Finally, her resignation tired her out to the point where she drifted into sleep. A dreamless sleep.

The second he was sure that she was asleep, he got up. Needing to gaze down at this defiant creature in front of him. She was snarky and sarcastic, she barely veiled the disdain she held for him. He was sure her every thought was about getting away from him. She was everything she was not supposed to be, which was a quality he couldn´t help but admire. He had thought that by now she´d broken down crying at least once, had sheepishly asked him for help with her tasks, had swooned over him for taking her out for dinner the way he did and - like an easily and carelessly seduced lover - was lying beneath him. She was not the pet he thought she´d be. She was something far better.

_Well, let´s rectify the situation._ He thought, smiling to himself devilishly.

When she awoke, she was no longer on the window sill, but trapped in his arms. It was 9 in the morning.


	4. Well done, sweetheart

_Seriously?_ she looked at the arms encircling her, looking for a way out of this without waking him. Finding there was no way she´d get off the bed without him noticing, he lunged for the nearest pillow and just hit him. _Might as well._

He slowly and smilingly opened his eyes, humming an inappropriate "Morning , love.", which caused her to hit him more. And more. "What the hell, Klaus?" she spat, hitting him more, causing him to laugh like a child. After a few more hits, he had her pinned to the bed in a flash.

"Stop!" he growled with a tiny note of teasing as his face etched closer to hers.

"What the heck am I doing in your bed?"

"Well," he explained, his smile all teeth and dimples. "for one it is OUR bed, as we both inhabit this room, then I figured the window would be less comfortable than this and finally it got a tad bit cold, love."

"I might be your damn assistant, but I am not a stupid cuddle blanket."

"Sweetheart, I thought your nickname was Carebear for a reason", he smirked.

"Let me go", she hissed in response.

"Will you stop hitting me with pillows?" he asked in amusement, noting her glances towards the fluffy weapon.

"Don´t you own a shirt? It would have done wonders against that mysterious cold." she asked in contempt.

"Well, it suddenly got warmer." he teased.

"Seriously?" she looked up at him in disbelief. "Get off me. Now."

"No more pillows?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Fine." she huffed.

There´s this odd thing about the perception of time, where Caroline is sure he lingered a tad bit too long on her while Klaus could have spent a few more minutes without moving an inch.

When she was finally free, Caroline lunged for the clothes she had worn the other day and went to the bath room door, pointedly locking the door behind her. She took her time showering, she took her time getting dressed. When she was done, she just took her notebook, her two phones and left, not even uttering a word a bemused Klaus.

"Remember love, meet me at the car at six sharp."

"How could I ever forget" she muttered, and through the door that she slammed shut behind her, she could still her him cooing "Enjoy your day, sweetheart."

She spent the day mostly in a Museum on police history, writing an apologetic postcard to her mother. Buying her a fridge magnet out of the guilt of having gotten herself into that mess to begin with. She had lunch in china town, enjoying the anonymity of the place. While she opened her zillionth fortune cookie, her own phone rang with a call from Elena.

"Hey". Caroline said, not knowing how to greet a friend whom she just witnessed being forcefully drained for blood.

"Hey." Elena answered. Not sure how to deal with the fact that her best friend was now at her mortal enemy´s back-and-call.

"I am so so sorry, Elena, are you okay?" Caroline said, breaking the silence between them.

"I hope so. How are you? And where? Tyler told us that you went to Seattle?"

"Yeah."

"Look, Damon said you´re compelled to not give us anything on Klaus. So I won´t bother asking, but please tell me that you are okay? Did he harm you? What are you doing in Seattle?"

"Well, I ... " she struggled for the words, as the compulsion kept on blocking her phrasing for a while until she finally found the right combination of words. "I literally cannot tell you why we´re here. I am unharmed, but he´s ... not easy to deal with. He´s creepy, if you ask me. I am answering my new phone 24/7, there´s like a bunch of strangers that are all eager to tell me whatever they think I need to hear about. I never hated phones so much. "

"So he´s literally letting you answer his phone?" Elena asked, catching onto Caroline´s odd phrasing.

"I´ll be off to Las Vegas. I should be there tomorrow." Caroline chose to say instead, since a simple yes apparently violated the rules of her compulsion.

"So you´re free to talk about yourself?"

"So it seems."

"But how did you get to tell me about Rebekah, then? Thank you, by the way, for the headsup."

"I got permission."

"He just permitted you to discuss Rebekah with me?"

"He´s Klaus. What do you think?" Caroline snorted.

"Care, what did he make you do in return?"

"I had Dinner at the Space Needle." was all Caroline managed to choke out, tears pooling in her eyes. "How´s Tyler?" she asked with a sob.

"Tyler´s fine. He´s just really worried about you. You should call him."

"I want to, I just hate that I can´t talk to him like a normal person anymore. I don´t even know how to explain the Space Needle thing to him."

"Caroline, he gets it. Trust me. He gets it."

At that, she heard the beep of an incoming message on her Klaus phone.

"Look, I got to go. Be save and tell my mom and Tyler and everyone that I miss them, okay?"

"Okay."

Caroline spent a few more second after Elena had already hung up, listening for the sound of her familiar voice, missing home more and more with each second, before looking at the other cell phone.

_"We´ll need camping gear, love."_

"Great" Caroline sighed.

She bought some equipment and had it delivered to the hotel. By the time she was supposed to meet up with Klaus she had her things, her blood cooler and the camping gear stationed by the car, ready to put it in the trunk, once he´d show up with the keys.

He spotted her, before she saw him. He took in her annoyed expression as she typed emails on both of her phones at seemingly the same time. Her curls caught the light of the sun within their own gold and a smile formed on his lips as he compared her to all the great paintings of angels he had seen over the centuries. Her scent was still fresh in his nose, and he had a mind to just press her up against the hood of his car until she had memorized his scent as well. _Another time,_ he thought with a look at his watch.

"Seems we´re all set to go." he called out as he marched up to the car. As soon as she heard the sound of the car being unlocked she deposited everything in the trunk, not even bothering to look at him. He didn´t like that, somehow it made him feel impatient.

They´d been driving for an hour, when she finally addressed him with her report.

"There´s a seemingly legit pack in Montpellier, but I guess I should hold off on booking anything until I know when you´re done with Vegas. I also arranged for your witch friend Silvie to fly out to meet us in Las Vegas, since even though whatever other crap you´re cooking up is might be on the back burner now, you can´t hunt down werewolves all day either, so she can just show you her new grimoire and go back to Pittsburgh. " _And hopefully, I get to spend even less time with you that way. _ She sighed, taking out a few documents she had printed out at the hotel before he had come for her and the car. "I browsed some real estate sites, and called some agencies. The turn-out of available properties that are directly in Mystic Falls is pretty low. We´re seemingly out on almost-castles. Unless you changed your mind about the tomb, which I would still totally recommend for you..." he smirked at that comment. "You should focus on the papers with the blue sticker, because those three are the only one with an actual Mystic Falls postal code, all the others are nicer and more like a castle and more NormanBatsey... some of those totally scream you, but they´re a bit further out." _Like at the border of Virginia._

"Which one you´d recommend, love?" he asked, referencing his secret observation that his pet had an instinct for him.

After another sigh, she pulled out a paper with a blue sticker. "This one, it´s within Mystic Falls, as that apparently is your preference, it has a dozen bed rooms as well as a lot of other big rooms. It even as enough space to host a ball or something there. At least, if the realtor did not lie to me on the phone. However, on the downside, it does require some more work and comes unfurnished. It would probably need a few more paintjobs, decorators, I bet a plumber or two and well... furniture. But that´s just how it looks on paper, you´d actually have to check out the place in person or something, in order to know for sure."

When he didn´t respond, she placed the papers back into her bag "I´ll probably get more offers tomorrow. Your turn, tell me where we´re headed."

"Sweetheart, that´s not how the arrangement works."

In annoyance, Caroline fell back into her seat, staring blankly out of the window. After twenty more minutes they arrived at a bar in the middle of nowhere between Seattle and the woods.

"So you´re going in there and march out with a bunch of new hybrids?" Caroline asked, looking up at the bar.

"No, we´re going in there, and you´ll help me get the final location of the pack", he said motioning for her to get out of the car.

As they walked in, Caroline noticed a crowd of hobby hunters, rednecks and mechanics, a lot of which were eyeing her in a not so gentlemanly manner.

"Alright," she hissed, holding her arms protectively in front of her. "Just tell me what you need me to do, so we can head back to the car."

"We´re going to do a little exercise in vampire 101." he joked, causing her to look up at him in confusion.

"Well, I´ll be casually strolling up to the bar, and I´ll order us two drinks, by the time the cute guy at the bar has served them, I expect you to have compelled the entire bar except for our target of course."

In panic, Caroline took in the crowd. _Those are a lot of people. _"How am I supposed to know who the hell you´re targeting this time?"

"You´ll figure it out." And she did, as she looked up at the young, red-headed werewolf boy busting tables in a manner which reminded her of Matt. A busboy, just like Matt.

"Compel them to do what?"

"To mind their own business. And hurry, sweetheart, your clock is ticking." he said, walking up to the counter.

Looking back at it, Caroline had no idea how she had managed to super-speed-compel an entire bar without the werewolf in question noticing, but she supposed the thought of failing Klaus on this one, was inspiration enough. She met up with him at the counter, just as the bartender, whom she had seen getting compelled by the allmighty hybrid himself, set down their drinks. Whiskeys for both of them.

She quickly gulped down hers and smacked the glass down. "Can I leave now, everyone is compelled, my job is done."

"I am afraid not" he smiled cruelly, as his hand found its way onto her lower back. "I still need you to talk to that werewolf."

"Turn him and I am sure he´ll tell you already." she hissed.

"Consider it yet another experiment." he smiled, leaning in to whisper into her ear. "I know I said that your job is to clean up my messes, but just for once I really want to know what it´d be like if you were to cause them first."

Her head shot up so quickly due to the shock, that she found her head way too close to Klaus´. "That was not part of the agreement." She said flatly.

"Well, let´s see. I might come across some other supernatural being that I cannot just turn into a hybrid, and without my Ripper around, you might be my only option without getting my hands dirty, so consider this a test in case of an actual emergency." he said, while getting up to move even closer to her. _ A fragile survivor._ The thought just never managed to leave his head. He wondered if she´d survive him, too.

"What the hell do you need from the poor kid, that you can´t go up and ask him yourself?"

"His pack." he said, briefly caressing her cheek, before making way for her to move.

Caroline gulped, before she defiantly snatched Klaus´glass from his hand and sipped up his whiskey as well, before slowly walking up to the poor busboy. She felt Klaus´ unwavering gaze on her during every single step. He smirked as he finally felt like he was truly punishing her for her infraction against him.

When she was just across from the kid, she just said "hi."

"Hey, can I help you?"

"Ähm, yes, you see, I know you´re a werewolf and that jackass watching us from the bar would like to know where to find your pack, and I thought if I asked nicely, you´d make this go down much easier for both of us." she let out innocently and fast, feeling Klaus´smile widen behind her back.

The boy tried to speed out of the bar, but since he was not yet a hybrid, Caroline had him on the floor in a second. "I am so sorry." Caroline whispered as she effectively broke both of his ankles. "Please don´t run again."

"You know, the Ripper usually puts them onto the pool table, it´s quite entertaining, having compelled humans move around you, while you break your opponent." Klaus said, suddenly standing next to her with a bottle of what Caroline immediately identified as wolfsbane.

Snatching the bottle from him, she growled. "Look, if you want to play sadistic torture bar games, then call your precious Ripper and have at it, I am not going to fake a Bahory-complex just because you are sick like that, got that?"

Slightly impressed by her Bahory reference, he stepped back, commenting casually "Fine, but Ripper always delivered results. Keep that in mind, sweetheart."

Caroline took a deep breath, before lowering herself down to face the werewolf boy. "Okay,..." she looked at his name tag "Drew. This is going to hurt, but I promise you the second you answer my one and only question truthfully and in detail, I will stop. Where is your pack?". With that, she placed some wolfsbane onto his neck, causing him to writhe beneath her in agony.

When the boy could finally breath again, he started to phrase a sentence, causing Caroline to carefully lower her ear towards him. "Stake yourself, bitch." She swore she could hear Klaus chuckle.

"I am sorry" was all she said, before she grabbed the bottle in a flash and dowsed her own hands in the poisonous water. "I really don´t want to keep hurting you all night." Then she plunged her hands into his chest, and engulfed his heart firmly in her wolfsbane-soaked hands. Aware of how lethal one wrong move could be for the boy, she put all her weight into holding him still, lowering herself gently but firmly onto him, just like she did when Tyler first turned. She held him still, she held him safe, she kept him in pain, until his writhing and screaming turned into a broken sob. All the while, single tears kept streaming down Caroline´s face as she kept on noticing more and more similarities between him and Matt.

Klaus looked at the girl in wonder. Ruthless, lethal, yet compassionate. She was even more fragile as a killer than she was as a survivor. Her radiance leaving him unable to look at her. The thought of ravishing her right there, crossed his mind. The thought of calming her, was even more prominent.

Finally the kid uttered a few coherent words again. "In the forest, about 20 miles east from here".

Klaus watched her as she gently lowered herself further onto the boy, feeling slightly envious. He wondered if that was how she helped Tyler through his first transformation, as he watched her place a gentle kiss onto his forehead while whispering an apologetic "thank you."

Her back froze, when she heard him clap his hands in mock applause. "Well done, sweetheart." The next thing he knew, she had flashed herself into the ladies' room, to scrub the blood off her cold hands as he turned the broken boy into a hybrid.

He heard the faucet, he heard her scrubbing. He briefly shot a look at the bath room when he heard the sound of an angry punch followed by the breaking of a lot of glass. He settled for waiting with his newest hybrid, when he finally heard her sobs.

His world felt finally back in peace again, when he knew for sure that though she was a fragile survivor, his pet and an insolent girl with breathtaking beauty, he could still get under her skin. He could still punish her. All was good now, all was well. And she was still far better than he ever thought she´d be.


	5. Now that we have that settled

They´d been driving in silence. Caroline hadn´t even spared a look at Klaus after she had returned from the ladies` room. She just grabbed the keys, walked up to Drew and had a silent stand-off with him, challenging him to take out his anger on her. However, he didn´t. So they all went their merry ways. Caroline was behind the wheel, Klaus sat next to her smirking to himself and wondering when she´d snap and yell at him again. Drew was sipping on a blood bag with which Caroline had provided him.

When they arrived at their destination, Klaus only motioned for Drew to show them the way. Before they took off to wherever the pack was, Klaus pulled Caroline aside. "Remember what Rebekah did the night I turned Tyler?" She just nodded, glaring at him. "That´s basically all you need to do now." Caroline didn´t respond, she just shrugged him off and walked up to follow Drew.

They found the pack soon after. The fight was swift but fierce. Caroline was mostly busy with either holding a werewolf down or knocking them out instead. In the end, she watched in horror as Klaus fed them all, one by one his blood, followed by her feeding them a few drops of Elena´s blood. After that it was all screams and aching. They lay on the ground, turning around in agony just like Tyler had. Their turn was prolonged by the presence of the full moon. Like a madmen, Klaus stood in the middle of the havoc he had caused. Drew was by his side looking around worriedly. By the time Caroline returned from grabbing the camping gear, the pack was still in agony.

"Look at this, sweetheart. Evolution in the making." he said, feeling as light-headed as he did when he had turned Tyler while Caroline sat down on a near-by rock. The previous moments kept on rushing back right in front of her eyes. Some of those wolves had been pleading, others had reminded her of people from back home... she felt dirty and guilty for helping Klaus do this to them. She fumbled a small nail polish bottle out of her jacket pocket and without paying any further attention towards Klaus, she unscrewed the lid and started to take of her shoes.

Klaus couldn´t help but chuckle at the image of his little pet painting her nails in the midst of all the anarchy surrounding him. His smile, however, turned into a frown when he watched her face contort and noted the smell coming out of the vial. _Vervain. _"What are you doing, love?"

"You asked me to built up a tolerance towards this stuff, I figured I might as well start now." she explained flatly without looking up.

"So you randomly decided to put some of it in your nail polish?" he asked perplexedly.

"Yup." was all she bothered to respond. The idea had come to her when browsing for the polish in a story earlier. She figured it would save her time and maybe even increase her motivation to endure the pain if she thought of the result instead of the pain. Though she did realize that her take on building up some vervain tolerance was taking the phrase "Beauty knows no pain." to an entirely new level.

"And you figured NOW would be the perfect moment to start. Quite the timing, my dear." At that, she looked up at him, hissing through the pain. "I couldn´t think of a better moment." Then she went back to her work.

Klaus could not help but frown, as her general attitude of "don´t bother with Klaus" was getting on his nerves. Ever since he had unleashed her onto Drew she was treating him like something to shrug off, like he was a random inconvenience to her life rather than her master. If only she could have seen herself while interrogating Drew, she had been magnificent. She should be grateful for him making her explore her true potential rather than treating him with disgust and loathing. Internally, he was scolding himself for letting her attitude spoil his moment.

She wasn´t stopping painting her toes until the last hybrid had finished transitioning. Then she slowly got up, recovering from the pain and used her vampire speed to quickly and smoothly set up the two tents and sleeping bags she had brought along.

When she walked back towards her rock to pick up her shoes, Klaus casually strolled up towards her with a smirk, looking down at her feet. "Nice color." he commented.

"So glad you approve." she retorted sarcastically.

"I approve of you taking my advice." he said.

"Hm." she returned while putting on her shoes again. Then she walked back towards the tent and her bag, taking out a bunch of papers and pencils, handing them out to the dazed hybrids. Klaus briefly listened in on her conversation with them. "Look, I get it you want to tear off my head right now, trust me I know. But before you even think about doing that it would be really great if you could just put down some info about yourselves... like names, addresses, phone numbers. Contacts in case of actual emergencies. I know you guys hate me at the moment, but it´s in your best interests, so please just write the info down and give me the note back."

Thirty minutes later, Caroline was shifting through a bunch of notes, entering some of the info into her phone, committing names and faces to memory. She only looked up when she heard Klaus' voice from a couple of feet away.

"I think we should celebrate tonight, and what better way than to run. As a pack. Celebrate the fact that you can now turn without pain. Celebrate your superiority." Caroline rolled her eyes at that.

However, her demeanor quickly changed, when she caught Klaus smirking at her before he started to undress. _Great. Now they´re all getting naked._ Having nowhere else to look she focused on her paper work and did not look up until her enhanced hearing assured her that the entire pack was out in the woods now. When she was finished with collecting the date, saving it on her own phone as well as sending it off to Klaus' she got up and unhappily walked over to assemble Klaus´ discarded clothes in a sort-of neat pile and placing them in front of one tent. She was about to retire in the other tent, when her phone started to ring. _Tyler._ Of course, it was their first full moon in quite a while when they were not together. Of course he would call.

Caroline never got a chance to answer, as she sensed something jumping at her, causing her to drop her phone and jump out of harm´s way. When she looked up she found herself surrounded by three mighty angry looking wolves that apparently were truly out to rip her head off.

Scanning her surroundings, while the wolves circled her predatorily, she looked for a way out. _Damn it, Klaus._ She should have known that he would feed her to the wolves, she just was not prepared that he´d do that literally. Finding an opening between the wolves, she opted to make a break for it, running for her life with all three of them on her tail. She was well aware that running had been her only choice in the time, but quickly she also realized that it was the wrong choice. While running more wolves joined the hunt. And hybrids were even faster than average werewolves. Soon she found herself backed against a tree and surrounded by a dozen, maybe even by the entire pack. All of them read to take out their anger on her. One of the wolves lashed out at her, causing her to trip and fall to the ground. They could sense her fear and enjoyed toying with it. Threatening to bite her with their hisses and growls instead of moving in for the kill immediately. Tears started to run down her face as she realized that they´d soon tire of toying with her. Soon they´d kill her. And she remembered all too well what dying from a wolf bite looked like.

Finally, one of the wolves felt tired of playing games. Just as he lunged at her, another wolf jumped in his way. He was larger than the others, his eyes were almost golden. His fur was light-brown. _Klaus._ Caroline immediately knew how it was. Klaus growled at the other wolves, before turning towards her. She closed her eyes, prepared for him to bite. Instead, he started to lick the tears of her cheeks, and when looked at him again, he moved towards nuzzling her neck. With his head he motioned for her to get up, licking her palm as she slowly did so. _ He´s marking me._ It took her a while to understand, but finally she got it. He was putting her off limits. At least for now. Slowly the shivering ceased, and as much as she hated the image of Klaus licking and smelling along her fingers, something about it gave her an odd sense of protection. Enough assurance to get her through the night. Giving him a brief nod and subconsciously patting his head, she looked at the other wolves that had more or less backed away and vampire-sped herself back towards her tent. Snatching up her phone from the ground, she went to cuddle into her sleeping back. She wrote a brief text to Tyler before slowly drifting into a dreamless sleep, knowing that she would not be eaten alive. At least not tonight. _ - Tyler. I am sorry I can´t be with you tonight. I miss you and I am thinking about you. Please be save.-_

Klaus woke up the next morning finding himself in a field close-by. His clothes were lying in a neat pile next to him, Caroline was sitting with her back, waiting for him to wake up and get dressed. "Morning, love."

"Great. Now that you´re awake, how about you get dressed? The gear is already in the car, I´ve sent all the info on your new minions to your phone and if you go and tell them whatever it is you want from them, then we can be on our way to Vegas. I am dying to find out what psycho games you´ll come up with there." he heard her say gruffly. He had been expecting a thank you for saving her the other night, but then again, it had been his own carelessness that had jeopardized her life in the first place. He should have told his hybrids before they turned into the wolf forms that his pet was not to be touched. He could still taste the fear in her tears and the shivers from her skin on his tongue. Up close she smelled even better than from a distance.

"Aren´t you going to thank me for saving your life last night?" he asked, as he put his pants on.

"Why bother? Sooner or later you´ll get me killed permanently anyway, at least judging from the way things are going. Now, if you don´t mind, I´ll wait by the car."

He watched her stomp off in amusement. Before yet another frown appeared on his forehead. Normally, women reacted abashedly or shyly and dealing with him when he was naked. She modestly turned away and stubbornly refused to acknowledge him as long as she couldn´t be sure he was dressed, but he could sense that there was none of the sexual tension he´d imagine to create. She was once again shrugging him off in a way. It bothered him.

Obviously, she never made it to her car. When he met up with the pack, he found her talking to one of his female hybrids. The girl was dark-skinned and had short black hair. And apparently she was very distraught. While starting to look the other way, Klaus tuned in on their conversation. "What´s he going to be doing to us?"

"Nothing I hope. I mean, he´s spent a really really long time figuring out a way to create hybrids, so you´re probably like top priority now."

"You mean, he turned us because he could?"

"Yes and no, I am pretty sure he will tell you what he wants you guys to do every moment now."

"I got a family. I am taking care of two younger siblings, they´re so young and they need me. I can´t just be off to wherever he tells me to go." the girl cried.

Caroline looked at the girl called Mindy in understanding. All of them had family. Drew probably had people that needed him. All of them must have at least someone that relied on them to be there.

"Look, remember when I gave you that sheet so you could write down your contact address? We´ll figure out a way to make sure your family is well taken care off. I promise. I don´t know how yet, but I´ll think of something, okay?"

The girl nodded, but kept on weeping, causing Caroline to pull her into an embrace.

"How endearing" Klaus suddenly chimed. "Just a couple of hours ago, all of my hybrids wanted you dead and now they run to you for guidance."

Mindy stiffened at Klaus' words, looking guiltily at Caroline. Caroline just looked at Klaus. "Well, I am not dead yet, so it´s all good."

Klaus turned towards his pet's new friend. "What´s your name, love?"

"Mindy."

"Ah, Mindy. You see, Caroline here is right to some extent. I´ll not let you leave behind your family without provisions. I´ll make sure your families are all taken care of. Now tell your friends that I want them all to go home. Caroline will send you a text when you´re needed, until then I see no reason for any of you to leave their homes."

The girl looked up at Klaus ´ inviting smile before finally smiling herself. "Thank you", Mindy stuttered. As she walked off to spread the word among the wolves, Caroline looked up at Klaus.

"That sounds utterly nice of you. Enslaving them without completely ruining their lives."

"Well, I want an army. They´re better when they don´t worry about home issues."

"Figures." was all that Caroline muttered. Once again, Klaus felt shrugged off.

Klaus was the one driving this time. Their plane for Vegas was not going to leave for another 10 hours, so Klaus decided to pamper her by treating her to a very late breakfast in the first Starbucks.

She enjoyed the gesture, but it didn´t stop her from brushing Klaus off. They were sitting in a secluded corner, where Caroline had brought them their orders, along with some papers, which she had briefly compelled the girl behind the counter to go and print out for here.

"Here. More houses." was all she said, as she finished putting blue stickers on a few of her sheets.

"Any of them better than the one you talked about yesterday?"

"Nope."

"Then go ahead love, buy it." he said, handing her a credit card. For a second Caroline just looked at the card, but decided to save the comment on her tongue.

For the next half hour they didn´t speak, and Caroline took the time to get lost in the normality of the place and the human atmosphere. Klaus could not help but observe the small smiled that kept growing on her face. Finally, he just felt like snapping her out of her cloud trying to see if he could maintain that smile while making her talk to him.

"Did you really think I would kill you?" he asked, sipping his coffee. She looked up at him in confusion.

"Yesterday, in the forest. You were radiating off fear for miles."

Caroline looked at Klaus, like she was studying him. Thinking back to that moment in the woods, where he had marked her with his scent, she remembered plenty of emotions. Fear, terror, but also relief and security.

"Well, simply because I am stuck to do your bidding, does not mean I trust you."

"Well, isn´t that a little bit vague for an answer?"

"It´s honest though." she answered after contemplating the question.

"That pat on the head by the way, felt quite nice."

"Don´t get used to it." she returned, trying to block out the memory of that thoughtless gesture on her part. "Just like I won´t get used to you saving me."

He chuckled as he took her beautiful faze in once more. _Smart girl._

"Now that we have that settled, love, I suggest we make our way to the airport then." he said.

"Give me a minute" she said, before grabbing one of those souvenire Starbuck mugs and getting in line to pay. He found it quite entertaining how she always chooses to act human in the most unlikely circumstances. It made him smile to himself.

The plane ride was uneventful. Caroline was merely relieved that she did not get killed in process. The limo she had organized to pick them up, was already waiting for them when they left the building. Tiredly, she leaned against the car window, trying not to fall asleep as she took in the nightly city of Las Vegas. She startled, as she could suddenly feel Klaus right by her side.

"Look at this love, I promise you, we´re going to be having so much fun together here. The city is hours for the taking." he whispered seductively, his hands wrapping around her waist. And for a second he got under her skin, he could tell by the look on her face.

Then she composed herself again. "Seriously?" she asked. Pushing him off her towards the opposite side of the car. It happened at the perfect timing as the car suddenly came to a halt, with the driver opening the door for them.

"Mr. Mikaelson. You have arrived at your hotel.."

Klaus got out swiftly, still smirking at Caroline´s mixed reaction, when he turned around, motioning for her to follow.

"Come on, sweetheart. Let´s get inside."

Suddenly a smirk graced her features. "Actually... when you told me to pick an interesting hotel I was sort of undecided. So I put you here, in the Excalibur, figuring that you will fit right in with all the knights and princesses. And I booked myself a room somewhere else. Don´t worry, everything you´ll need will be in your room. Just don´t forget your 12 o`clock with Silvie in the lobby tomorrow. Bye, Klaus."

Klaus watched her drive off in a mixture of admiration and anger. Deciding to play along for the time being, but internally already contemplating a suitable comeback to her transgression, he stalked into the ridiculous hotel lobby, scoffing at all the fake knights and the plastic swords.

He was not pleased with the hotel, definitely not pleased with Caroline being off in some other hotel. Not pleased with the disruption of his nightly plans either, as he had sort of hoped to end the night with her in one way or another. He hadn´t nearly been done with her for the day. He enjoyed toying with her just too much.

When he entered this ridiculous room she had booked him in, his attention was caught by a letter lying on the bed.

_**Wouldn´t want you to be cold at night. C.**_ was all it read. He looked down to find a Carebear themed cuddle blanket for toddlers lying beneath the letter.

And at her challenge, he found himself mighty pleased after all.


	6. think of this little experiment

It felt nice. Lying by the pool, soaking up the sun after having had an opulent pancake breakfast delivered to her room, it simply felt nice. Buying herself a simple, white one-piece bathing suit and enjoying her ice tea, while slowly getting ready to take a dive in the blue, cool water was the best way to start her morning. There was this giddy part of her that managed to completely block out any thought of her current predicament. That part of her only marveled at how she´d been playing pranks on her teachers back home in Mystic Falls and was now enjoying her time in Las Vegas.

And Caroline continued to enjoy her morning until she was done swimming. When she returned to her towel, she caught side of a text message. And that was pretty much the end of her fun.

_Meet me at the Aquarium, love - Klaus._

"Seriously?" she said, checking her watch to wonder why he was here. His appointment with Silvie had barely started half an hour ago and she sort of had hoped that it would take them at least a couple of hours.

She quickly slipped her bright green sundress over her bathing suit and put all of her things in her beach bag before walking towards the Aquarium. She had already seen it last night, unable to resist, she had compelled her way inside, despite the late hour, and just taken in all of the beauty in there. It felt quite and quite relaxing, especially after all the drama of these past days. Somehow, she dreaded meeting Klaus in a place she liked so much. Dreaded his reaction towards her room arrangements.

Oddly enough, she found herself to arrive first. And even odder, the aquarium was virtually abandoned. _Compulsion_. Huffing, she walked around in the search of Klaus, and finally settled on waiting in front of a shark exhibit. He approached her as she got lost in enjoying the quietness of these eerie predators.

He had been watching her enter, frowning at her underdeveloped senses. But secretly enjoying the moment of surprise. In advance, he had compelled the attendants to not let anyone except for her, him and his witch enter the place. He valued his privacy. Just like he valued his pride.

He had woken up earlier than usual, with a hunger. He hungered for power. Power over her. As much as their banters and her attempts of fighting him off were mentally stimulating, they as of late filled him with a sense of redundancy. Ever since the Drew incident, she had taken to shrugging him off, like he was fly, rather than her master. Klaus remembered enjoying the victorious feeling when he had observed her torturing Drew against her will, and there was this predator in him that hunted for a revival of that moment like a shark hunting after blood in the water. He found it quite ironic that she had decided to wait for him right in front of a set of sharks. Like her subconscious already expected retribution. He couldn´t afford for a mere pet, no matter how mesmerizing it was, to mock him, he couldn´t afford for her to not cover in front of him.

It was precisely that thought that led to him moving his witch meeting to her hotel.

"Thank you for joining us, Caroline." he said as he came up behind her. A thin, dark-skinned woman in a white sun-dress following after him. "Silvie, meet my assistant. She was kind enough to organize your vacation."

"Hallo Caroline" the woman spoke.

"Pleasure´s all mine, I think." Caroline uttered unevenly. "So... how was your meeting?"

His smirk just grew. "It isn´t quite finished yet. You see, on our way over here, Silvie gave me an impressive run-down of all the spells in her new grimoire and I was itching for her to show some of them to me."

Caroline´s mind began to race at Klaus' calm tone. She had already discovered that the calmer he spoke the less likely she was going to enjoy hearing what he had to say. "So.. what kind of spells are we talking about."

"Well, most of the spells in here are pretty standard, I am afraid. But there are few exceptions." Silvie spoke. "For example, it has a new kind of aneurysm spell. This one, is supposedly an intensified version of the average spell. "

"Show her." Klaus chimed.

The next thing Caroline knew was pain. Her head throbbed like hell, as she steadied herself against the glass wall of the Aquarium. And Klaus didn´t tell Silvie to stop until she was lying on the floor with a bleeding nose, screaming her lungs out.

"Impressive, didn´t think these spells could get any nastier, than they already were, but apparently I was wrong. Anything else of notice ?" he asked, as he hovered above Caroline, observing her. Fawning over her.

"Well, there are some stimulant spells."

"What are those?" Caroline said, slowly getting up from the floor. She leaned against the aquarium, hoping all of this would soon be over.

"Spells that can intensify pretty much any emotion. Like love, hate, anger, ..." and with a suggestive glance she added. "Arousal?"

Before Caroline could even start to rush away, Klaus had her in an iron grip. "Relax love." was all he said, before his everlasting compulsion kicked it, stopping her from running against her will.

"Could it also heighten... let´s say...blood lust?" he asked, amusement in his voice.

"I think so." Silvie answered flatly.

"Okay, I think I want to see this spell in action. Your pick, love." he spun her around to face him. "Arousal... or blood lust?"

"Please don´t do this." she sobbed.

"I repeat. Arousal or blood lust. Or maybe...both?"

Caroline squirmed in his hold, knowing that she needed to pick quickly. It was the way he looked at her. The way he called her love. The way he had conveniently emptied out the Aquarium that prompted her choice. "Bl... Blood."

For a second, he was disappointed. "As you wish." But that second passed.

As soon as Silvie started to chant, Caroline felt her features morph. Her fangs and veins popped out, her eyes turned dark. The hunger came just as quickly. "Listen to me love, the spell will last for a few hours. And you will stay inside the aquarium until Silvie comes to lift it. Don´t worry, I have compelled the attendants to only permit one person to enter every 10 minutes. And next time you find yourself torn between two hotels, I want you to think of this little experiment and ask me about my opinion." After those taunting words, he let go off her and guided Silvie and himself towards the exit.

They wound up discussing her new grimoire for hours, before they returned for Caroline. The place was filled with dead bodies, some of them had horrified expressions etched onto their lifeless faces. Klaus felt joy at the sight, even more so at the thought of having now two rippers at his disposal.

They found Caroline back with the sharks, sitting on a visitors bench, her arms wrapped around her knees. Blood streaming from her arms, as she clawed her way into them. Her sobs echoed throughout the place. He knew why she was clawing at herself, she was trying to weaken herself, so maybe the next visitor would stand a chance. As Silvie quietly lifted the spell, he watched her beautiful face switch back towards her human features. The blood around her mouth highlighting its exquisiteness. A desperate part of him contemplated to try out the arousal spell next, but instead he just sat down next to her, as she cried.

"Now, that spell was quite interesting. I know it's not the bunny diet you´re used to, but tell me, love. How did it feel to finally act like a real vampire?" His face had moved so close towards hers, that her slap caught him off-guard.

He knew he should rip her head off, but instead he engaged in a silent stand-off with her beautiful eyes. He had damaged her. The assessment was as quick as it was startling. He was confused as to why he did not like the thought. Of course he would damage her, she was his to damage, but still... it somehow welt wrong.

"Okay love, you´re going to pack your bags, and move it to that ridiculous excuse of a hotel you picked out for me. And hurry, I booked a spa package for your and Silvie. She´s had a tough flight and I figured you might want to relax a little more before your lesson."

"My.. my lesson?" she asked exhaustedly, but he had already flashed away.

As it turns out, Silvie had indeed been told to give her instructions. Silvie did not speak to her during their massages and their facials. But somehow she started talking in the sauna. She took out her grimoire and simply told Caroline to look at it.

As Caroline went through the pages, Silvie talked about the book like it was a history lesson. She explained what kind of spells it contained, what other kind of things. What kind of symbols and what kind of languages it used, and despite her trauma and her fear, Caroline briefly got lost in all of the information.

"Why are you telling me all of this?"

"He wants you to know this stuff. He wants you to be able to look at a witch's grimoire and not be completely clueless. Klaus has a lot of witches and he told me you needed the knowledge in order to be of better assistance in the future."

"I don´t even know what most of this means." Caroline said exhaustedly, her thoughts still revolving around sharks and corpses. But her mind was stuck on the words _"better assistance in the future"_.

"It´s mostly in Latin. I am afraid you´ll have to figure it out somehow."

After that, Silvie explained to her more and more. And despite her wrecked state, Caroline tried to take in as much as she could. Afterwards they were soaking in a jacuzzi, and Caroline pretty much went quiet, her mind finally taking the time to relive this morning`s events over and over again.

"That spell really did a number on you, didn´t it?" Silvie said.

"You and your stupid spell made me kill 37 people today. What do you think?"

"I thought he was kidding when he said that you don´t feed off humans... " she joked, but looking at the distraught girl that had spent the past hours of spa fun holding back tears, the witch sobered up quickly. "I apologize"

"Save it." Caroline said, turning away from the confused witch.

"Look, you´re a vampire. So obviously I did not think it mattered if you killed some more people, after it´s not like a little more blood could mess up your diet. I am sorry, you´re the first non-blood vampire I have ever heard of, I ..." The witch explained, trying to get the vampire to listen.

"You ... would have done what? I am sorry, but I don´t believe you would have done anything differently." Caroline muttered.

"Well, I could have tried to lessen the amount of intensification, and maybe Klaus would have been none the wiser." Silvie suggested.

"You think so?" Caroline asked flatly, and finally made eye contact. They both knew that Klaus would have noticed. He probably would have ordered the witch to turn up the intensity a notch had he even suspected any foul play on her part.

They spent another twenty or so minutes in complete silence, until Silvie broke it once more. "Just out of curiosity. How DID you end up with Klaus?"

"What did he tell you?" she asked.

"I was not stupid enough to ask him."

At that, Caroline gave an eerie smile. "Let´s just say, I broke his moment and then it was either people I care about being killed or me enrolling for indentured servitude."

"I see." Silvie said. To her it sounded like the KLaus she knew.

"You know, Klaus as different types of servants, but mostly there are two main categories. LOTS of folks try to gain his favor. There are people and things out there that would bend themselves over backwards to gain his favor. The common delusion is that he grants you power. He doesn´t, but lots of folks don´t see that. You, and me however, we´re... what I´ve gotten to call his acquisitions."

"Acquisitions?" Caroline looked up at her.

"People he bought or bargained. People who have no other choice but to do whatever it is Klaus says."

"What's your point?" Caroline asked confusedly.

" I call people like us acquisitions because that is what we are. He acquired us, meaning at one point he must have thought us of enough value to bother with obtaining our services. Meaning that you did not only end up here because you broke a moment. "

"I am here because he´s punitive."

"You may have gotten here that way, but you´re no longer being punished. You´re being invested in."

At the ominous tone of Silvie's voice, Caroline shuddered. She had heard Klaus refer to her being around as a future event, she had heard the word future a lot lately. And she had long time since started to loath that word, but it was only hitting her now that Klaus might have further plans for her.

"What makes you think he invests anything in me?", denial flooding her tone.

"Do you know any other witches?" Silvie asked calmly? Caroline only nodded.

"Did they ever let you have a peek at their grimoire?" At that, Caroline shook her head.

"No offense, but to us you vampires are abominations. I mean, even when we´re friends with you, we keep a couple of things away from you. One of those things vampires usually don´t get to touch are our grimoires, but if Klaus asks how can I refuse?" Her last words reeked of sarcasm.

"But why would he need me to see a grimoire?" Caroline asked.

"Don´t know precisely. But I do know that he has a chain of witches under his command. Some of them die and pass on their grimoires, but occasionally some of them acquire new grimoies from extinct witch lineages. Some of them have several grimoires and diaries and sometimes can´t find the right spell in time to meet his deadlines... there are various uses for a non-witch with a knowledge of grimoires."

Caroline sat aghast. _ If Silvie's thoughts were even close to the truth than... _

"He´s grooming you, Caroline. Between you and me, you are not going to get out of this anytime soon."

"What does he think me leafing through one witch cook book will teach me?"

"Nothing, which is why he had instructed me to loan you all of my others for the remaining day. He wants you to get a feel for them I think."

"Why are you telling me all of this?". Caroline asked. She knew the witch meant to help her, and Caroline had no idea why. She was puzzled.

"Because you got me a free trip to Vegas, and Klaus or no Klaus, I paid you back by torturing you in a creepy aquarium. And because I think someone needed to point out the heaviness of your situation."

At that... Caroline just nodded. For Silvie was right. Until now, Caroline had not grasped the long-term aspects of her situation. It´s not a thing you can ever really come to terms with. To her, Klaus is nothing one can ever come to terms with. But still, somehow she had not thought of this to last. But if Silvie was right, this would not be over anytime soon. Not by a long shot.

With as sigh, Caroline turned to her new-found quasi-friend. "So... you mean to say that when we get out of here, there´ll be a pile of old books and Klaus waiting for me?"

"Yup." Silvie nodded.

"Well, how about we order another cocktail, and enjoy the Jacuzzi a little bit longer?" Caroline called a truce. And Silvie just smiled.

Klaus was annoyed. He had been expecting his girls back two hours ago, but had been informed that they apparently were spending some girl-on-girl bonding time in the spa. It irked him. A part of him felt like just going up there and order Caroline to finish her spa and move to their new room immediately. But that would mean he´d be forced to show impatience. He´d simply let her make up for making him wait later.

His mind drifted back to seeing her at the Aquarium. Her face tainted with blood, her eyes burning with life. She was a vision. A beautiful, reluctant killer. He thought he saw a predator hidden underneath all the light. It was quite captivating. Which she was not supposed to be, but she was anyway. However, he was sure he had broken some of her defiance. He had seen that damaged look, when he found her after her little rampage. He was certain she had gotten his warning. Loud, clear and bloody as it was.

At that thought the suite door opened and both women entered. "I take it the experience was pleasant." He said coldly.

"Yes, and I take it those are the grimoires you want me to leaf through?" Caroline said, without even bothering to spare him a look. _She´s still shrugging me off..._

"No, those are the books I want you to study, thoroughly and dedicatedly. I am not asking Silvie to loan you centuries worth of witchcraft just so you can leave through them, love."

Caroline could feel the compulsion kicking in. She could detect a distinctive rise in care for the books. She wondered if Klaus knew how she felt about the word _thorough_. Or if he was aware of her sense of detail. Klaus' compulsion ordered her to obey his every command, and Caroline was sort of an OCD case. So his latest order would probably take a lot of time. Without a further thought, she grabbed the pile of books, said down by the desk and went through it.

"Silvie, why don´t you go back to your room, and enjoy your stay?" Klaus said eerily.

She didn´t look up the entire time he spent watching her. She ignored his bemused chuckles anytime she would rant to herself about not understanding any Latin. She failed to notice his curiosity when she started taking down notes in her notebook and looking up things on her laptop. She did however notice him leaving the room and returning after an unspecified amount of time.

"Love, you´ve been at it for 4 hours. " She suddenly heard his voice and felt his touch on her shoulder.

"Ever heard of personal space?" she huffed, shrugging off his hand.

He only smirked. "You may continue tomorrow. Right now, I want you to put on the dress in that lovely box on the bed and get changed. We´re going somewhere."

Caroline eyed the box suspiciously, before grabbing it and locking herself in the bath room. What she found was a scarlet dress. When she put it on, she found it to hug her curves as tightly as it possibly could. It exposed a certain amount of cleavage, but covered her up just enough to not make it look trashy. The same could be said about the skirt. It was elegant, yet borderline sexy. It was showing her off.

Klaus had changed into a white suit by the time she returned.

"So... where are we going?"


End file.
